S.Korea rules out renegotiating trade pact with US
SOUTH KOREA: South Korea’s trade minister on Thursday ruled out any
renegotiation of a free trade agreement with the United States amid
nervousness about its prospects under a Barack Obama presidency.
“There will be no renegotiation, and our stance will be maintained,”
Kim Jong-Hoon said of the pact signed in April 2007 but awaiting
ratification by legislatures of both countries.
Obama has called the deal “badly flawed” and said it does too little
to narrow a huge imbalance in the auto trade in Seoul’s favour.
South Korea shipped about 700,000 cars to the US last year while
importing 5,000 American cars.
“The problems facing the US auto industry are not new ones,” Kim
said, adding that US carmakers should step up efforts to boost
competitiveness.
Newspapers hailed Obama’s victory as historic but some cited his
views on the trade pact as a potential challenge. Dong-A Ilbo newspaper
noted the Democrats’ traditional protectionist instincts in trade.
South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak and US President George W. Bush
agreed during an April summit to push for approval of the FTA by their
respective legislatures by the end of this year.
This now seems unlikely, but Seoul says it expects the deal will
survive.
“It is easy to expect a further delay in the ratification of the FTA
by the US legislature after Obama’s win,” trade minister Kim told
parliament in October. “But I see this as a matter of when, not
whether.”
For the US, the deal with South Korea would be its biggest since the
North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994.
Some estimates say it could boost two-way trade, worth 78.4 billion
dollars last year, by up to 20 billion dollars in coming years.
Ralph Cossa, president of the Pacific Forum CSIS, urged the two
countries to find common ground to rescue the pact, saying in a
commentary it would benefit both economies in troubled times.
“Its failure will put significant strains on the overall (Korea)-US
relationship,” Cossa wrote.
“Koreans are already agonising this morning over the prospects of the
US reneging on the deal.”
SEOUL, Friday, AFP |
